Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) — Janus Capital Group Inc., the firm that hired bond legend Bill Gross last month, said profit rose 25 percent in the third quarter as assets rose from a year earlier, boosting fees for managing money.

Net income at Janus increased 25 percent to $40.9 million, or 22 cents a share, from $32.6 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier, the Denver-based firm said today in a statement. Earnings matched the 22-cent average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Weil has raised the firm's profile in the past month, hiring Pacific Investment Management Co. co-founder Gross and agreeing to buy VelocityShares LLC to expand in exchange-traded products. Customers pulled a net $2.4 billion from Janus's equity funds in the quarter, while putting in $300 million into the firm's fixed-income products. Since taking over in 2010, Weil has struggled to stem defections even as he expanded Janus's fixed- income team and created a multi-asset investing group.